Former Hound Muzzin giving Kings a princely effort -- RUICCI COLUMN

To play at hockey's highest levels, a player, obviously, must believe in his abilities.

And for some players, there eventually comes a time when that confidence and their on-ice production begin to intersect.

Former Greyhounds defenceman Jake Muzzin has reached that point.

In his first full NHL season, Muzzin has established himself as a reliable defenceman for the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Los Angeles Kings.

When the club acquired veteran defenceman Robyn Regehr from Buffalo in April, Alec Martinez lost his spot in the lineup.

Later than month, when veteran Matt Greene returned from back surgery it was Keaton Ellerby who was squeezed out.

Through a number of lineup shifts, Muzzin, the pride of Woodstock, Ont., managed to survive.

He finished the regular season with seven goals and nine assists in 45 games.

Among Kings rearguards, his 16 points trailed only another youngster, Slava Voynov (6-19-25), and the great Drew Doughty (6-16-22).

Not only that, Muzzin's plus-minus of plus-16 led the Kings.

Imagine that?

In March he was named the NHL's rookie of the month after a four-goal, seven-assist effort in 17 games. He was also a plus-10 that month.

While playing a regular shift and seeing time on LA's No. 2 power-play unit, the 24-year-old averaged nearly 18 minutes of ice time.

In the playoffs, Muzzin has three assists in 13 games and is a minus-1.

He's averaging almost 16 minutes heading into this afternoon's opener in the Western Conference finals.

And when the Kings hit the ice in Chicago, Muzzin will be paired with Greene, hoping to help the Kings grab their second consecutive championship.

Muzzin's story is certainly one of perseverance.

Taken 11th overall by the Greyhounds in the 2005 Ontario Hockey League draft, Muzzin missed his rookie season with two herniated discs in his lower back.

After undergoing surgery, he got into just 37 games his second season. His lack of conditioning often drew the ire of then head coach Craig Hartsburg.

Frankly, there was a lot of concern as to whether Muzzin would ever live up to his first-round billing.

But he began to put things together in the 2006-2007 playoffs.

Muzzin was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fifth round of the 2007 NHL draft, but was never signed by the team.

That forced him to play a fourth OHL season and, as an overage and the Soo's captain, he truly blossomed.

He finished with 15 goals and 52 assists in 64 games, was a standout defensively, a terror on the power play and, eventually, winner of the 2010 Max Kaminsky Trophy as the league's top defenceman.

The six-foot-three, 215-pounder signed a free agent deal with the Kings, who've turned the Sault (Muzzin, Jeff Carter, Jordan Nolan, Andrew Campbell, Colin Miller) into LA north when it comes to players and prospects.

After spending two seasons and the start of this year with the AHL's Manchester Monarchs, Muzzin has developed into a guy who is smart, moves the puck well, contributes on the power play – especially with his heavy shot -- and continues to improve defensively.

I remember watching on television the aftermath of the Kings 6-1, series-clinching victory over New Jersey in last year's Stanley Cup Finals.

There was Muzzin, who hadn't dressed for the game, on the ice and lifting the Cup overhead.

But while that was a definite thrill, it's not the same as the feeling that comes with winning a championship as a contributing player.